Biography of Malcolm McGregor

Among the enterprises of Weiser which are alike creditable to the city and to their proprietors is the Vendome Hotel, which was built by its present owners and managers, Messrs. McGregor and Coakley, and by them opened for business in February, 1891. Since that time the hotel has gained a very favorable reputation with the traveling public and enjoys a large patronage. It is a brick structure, two stories high, and contains twenty-eight rooms, well finished, well furnished, well ventilated and nicely kept. Great care is given to the perfection of all arrangements which will contribute to the comfort of the guests, and from the daintily spread tables, supplied with all the delicacies of the season, to the tastefully appointed parlors, all is harmonious and attractive.

Malcolm McGregor, the senior member of the firm of McGregor & Coakley, was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, on the 14th of January 1845, and in his youth learned the machinist’s trade. He afterward operated a stationary engine and worked at his trade both in San Francisco, California, and Virginia City, Nevada. In 1871 he removed to Silver City, Idaho, where he accepted the position of chief engineer of the Ida Elmore mine and mill. He also conducted the Idaho Hotel there for some time, but came to Weiser in 1885. Here he engaged in raising sheep, also conducted a hotel, but abandoned both of those interests on joining Mr. Coakley in the erection of and conduct of the Vendome Hotel. He is an obliging and courteous landlord, well fitted by nature for the duties which rest upon him, having a social, genial disposition. He is also numbered among the enterprising and public-spirited citizens of the county and withholds his support from no movement intended to advance the general welfare. He is a stockholder in the Telephone Company and the Creamery Company, and his sound business judgment has contributed in no small degree to his success. As a hotel man he is widely known and has many friends all over the country.